There’s a case to be made that of all the people who’ve ever lived, Michael Jackson had the most rhythm. You could be in a coma when one of his hits comes on and you’d start tapping your foot. He had amazing talent. I’ve been listening to a lot of his songs lately, since my oldest came up with a CD of his greatest hits. We’ve been listening to it together.
So many questions buzzed about this man. Was he nuts? Was he a child molester? Did he endanger his children? Was he gay, straight, or neither? Was he black or white? How much plastic surgery did he have and why? Can you imagine having all that hanging over your head in front of the world? He was a very mixed up and troubled man.
It’s interesting how those closest to him still love and defend him. They must know he was living in Crazytown, but he made them care about him somehow, warts and all.
In our age we say there are no more heroes. All are fallen. Consider some big names and their failures:
- Abraham Lincoln – owned slaves in his life.
- Martin Luther King – unfaithful to his wife
- John Kennedy – unfaithful to his wife
- Barry Bonds – took steroids
- Brett Favre – unfaithful to his wife
- David Letterman – unfaithful to his wife
- Bill Clinton – unfaithful to his wife
- Newt Gingrich – unfaithful to his wife
- Mel Gibson – hot tempered, drunken, racist
- Martha Stewart – insider trading
- Tiger Woods – unfaithful to his wife
- Roger Clemens – affairs and steroids
- Pete Rose – betting on baseball
- O.J. Simpson – murder
- Michael Vick – dog fighting/killing
I’m sure you can add others to the list. You probably feel some measure of mercy towards some, but most likely not all. Yet there is mercy available from God. Jesus explained it very simply:
“Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.'” Matthew 18:21-22
A couple of friends of mine like to use the phrase “slippery slope.” Forgiveness is one of those things that can be a very slippery slope indeed. When you’ve been seriously wronged, or you see immense evil, your heart cries out for justice. We have police to go after bad guys. We have prisons to punish wrongdoers. We go to war to stand up against evil. Jesus made a whip and cleared the temple of thieves scamming the people in his Father’s house. How does forgiveness factor into this? When is it right to judge and when is it wrong?
Jesus said both of the following things:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Matthew 7:1
“Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” John 7:24
Jesus was not contradicting himself. He separated right judgement from wrong judgement. The difference can be difficult to discern, and is made even more ambiguous by the state of confusion in the church and society over it.
“Judgment is an ambiguous word, in Greek as in English: it may mean sitting in judgment on people (or even condemning them), or it may mean exercising a proper discrimination. In the former sense judgment is depreciated; in the latter sense it is recommended.” – F. F. Bruce
Jesus discerned between evil judgement and good judgement. Evil judgement looks like this:
“When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” 1 Corinthians 10:12
Evil judgement measures others according to itself. It makes itself the standard.
Good judgment discerns between right and wrong according to God’s Word. God’s Word condemns sin, but saves sinners when they turn to him, repent, and ask his forgiveness. The offer of forgiveness is freely available until the last breath.
“It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” Hebrews 9:27
Since this is how God treats all of us, this is how we must treat all others.
On Judgement Day we will either stand before God based on our own merit or Christ’s. That is the determining factor as to where we will spend eternity. Christ is the only gateway to entry into God’s kingdom. That fact alone should create great humility in God’s people, who have received such a lavish gift from God in Christ. But humility does not preclude discernment and forgiveness does not preclude justice in a human sense. Forgiveness in Heaven depends on justice meted out at the crucifixion. Justice on earth is merely a human matter, necessary for the protection of all and the promotion of what is right and good. It is a judgement of discernment and order, without any bearing on God’s judgement of the soul, which is wholly his to decide.
So what about all these fallen people? What do we do with them?
It goes back to what Jesus said to Peter. We forgive as many times as we would want to be forgiven. To the unrepentant, we maintain the same attitude as Christ, offering forgiveness and mercy so long as their hearts keep beating. In society, we mete out human justice as necessary to protect all, knowing full well it is a human matter. We let God decide the eternal fate of souls, as this includes our own. Insofar as is possible, considering all that is at stake, we show mercy even to the unrepentant. And as for our personal concerns, we let others off the hook of our justice in lieu of God’s, which is only his to decide, fully confident in his perfection.
In this New Year, may we all judge rightly, turn to God, and joyfully receive his forgiveness, an ocean of love and mercy freely available and washing over us all.
“I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10
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